Witches Coven
by x-Hallelujah-x
Summary: A series of disappearances have happened over a period of 12 years but it isn't just one or two people at a time, in the course of a single night entire villages have disappeared off the face of the planet! And just what can Arthur and Merlin do about it?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Merlin but I love it

I just felt like writing this, it popped into my head a bit randomly so it is kind of random but anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

-Rin

P.S this will contain some mistakes because I haven't had the time to go over it like I usually would, so beware, when I do get enough time things may change.

NB: this is an edited version that I have gone over with a little more care, there were quite a few changes but nothing major, some more may follow in future, the same goes for other chapters.

* * *

Witches Coven

The cold chill in the air cut through the terrain on a blustery winter's night, it masked the heat coming from the burning village near by, the sound of the wind covered the screams of the people burning in their homes and the glow of the flame, too bight to look at, disguised the wreckage the fire left as roves became weak and collapsed in on top of trapped families who had no where to run.

A little ways east of the village a little girl sat watching, humming to herself, in her hand, a perfectly round fist sized emerald sat glowing with a strange light and as the girls voice climbed and fell so too did the glow, the haunting eerie tune rang out over the land, at it's peak drowning out the sound of the wind though at it's base it was barely heard.

Some time later the glow began to fade the flames that covered the village began to die and the girl stopped humming. As the song faded from the air the wind blew harder and the ruins of the village turned to dust and faded from existence, never to be seen again.

* * *

Twelve years ago it started, with a small town near the southern boarder, in one night, in raging gales it burned to the ground and its remains disappeared, turned to dust and blown away, countless settlements have followed but the fires cause remains unknown.

The cause has remained a mystery to even the best scholars in the king's city, Camelot, but then again that could have been because magic has been outlawed for the last twenty years leaving little or nothing now known about it.

King Uther of Camelot had a reputation for losing his head when he heard the word 'magic' or it could be said that he had a reputation for making other people lose theirs, the King of Camelot hated magic and those who used it with an unrelenting and terrifying passion.

* * *

"Twelve years have passed since the disappearance of the village of Bardon which stood in the most southern reaches of our kingdom, in the first five years Cally, Rotherom and Hurth followed suit and now, seven years since the last disappearance, Conith one of the southern towns has done the same." The court dignitary spoke explaining the situation to King Uther of Camelot and his council.

"Where there any survivors?" Uther questioned hoping the conversation wasn't going the way he thought it was.

"None sire on any occasion, although…" the man hesitated, the king raised an eyebrow at him to continue and so after taking a few gulps of air and turning a few shades whiter, he obliged "There have been reports form both Archeion and Roin, both close neighbours to Bardon and Hurth that a song was heard, a sort of humming at the exact time the two villages disappeared, but it was said to be… that of a child"

The sentence ending had the expected effect as the entire chamber took a large intake of breath.

"Was this heard anywhere else?" the king questioned his underling harshly, the man shivered slightly.

"No sire none of the other villages or towns had any close neighbours." The council man replied, the king sighed.

"Then are we to believe that a child is doing all this? And if so how?" The prince, who was occupying the seat next to his fathers looked up at the court dignitary with a calm stare reminiscent to that of his father, all sitting at the table knew that expression did not bode well for the target of the Pendragon's gaze.

"Well no sire, Bardon and Hurth were destroyed twelve years ago whoever did it, of course assuming that it was indeed a child, will be or almost be an adult by now sire, as for how…" The reply and what the man seemed to be implying were less then pleasing to Uther's ears.

"Find who did it, the person who did this is responsible for the death of hundreds, Prince Arthur I leave this in your hands." King Uther said as he got up to leave, Arthur nodded and he too left the hall as the court ended for the day.

Gaius the court physician hurried from the chamber to his house where his ward, Merlin was studying magic in the confines of his room. As Camelot's only sorcerer, Merlin would have to be told.

* * *

The sun shone above the trees of England's enchanting forests although the sky remained dismally grey, this went un-noticed to the teenaged girl who braved the forests wilderness bare foot following a path only she could see, with an emerald velvet cloak draped over her shoulders and a small leather bag draped over one shoulder one could mistake her for a wondering traveller, it was her lack of shoes and hooded head that made her look out of place.

The trees pulled away from her and yet the forest closed in and tried to swallow her, the green lady, rumoured to be a witch she hid in the trees and lived among nature and out of fear, few ever disturbed her.

Approaching a small log hut that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the green forest the girl pulled her hood down to reveal a pale skinned face with eyes the colour of the earth and hair that was a kin to open flame braided into a long plat, around her neck hung an emerald stone that was shaped into a perfect sphere and attached to a thin golden chain.

Stepping forward she opened the cabin and stepped inside. After closing the door behind her she set down her bag and removed her cloak to reveal a plain brown tunic underneath, sitting down at a small work table she removed herbs, spiders webs and a series of roots, twigs and berries from her bag and sorted them into piles. The spiders webs were kept in a jar on a shelf in the corner of the room, the herbs were hung on strings suspended from the ceiling to dry and the roots and twigs were either cut open and placed in jars for later processing or thrown on the fire in the middle of the room to prevent so much smoke from rising from it and filling the room.

That job done she got up and knelt by the fire preparing to make her dinner with some of the berries she had collected and various other vegetables she had gotten from the patch she kept out the back of the small one roomed cabin, she also washed her face and hands with the water she had collected from a nearby stream that morning.

As she set a cauldron of boiling water over the flames she was distracted by the sound of horse hooves echoing from some distance away, hastily standing, she grabbed her cloak from the rack beside the door and through it on over her tunic and then after grabbing the small leather bag she darted out the door.

Completely covered in the confines of her emerald cloak she made her way easily along tracks known only to her, in her head she heard the cries of the woodland as the horse and rider trampled through the undergrowth with no regard for what it they were trampling, this sound propelled her onward across a small rickety bridge that was the only path across the small stream and after walking for a few more minutes she saw him.

A rider clad in metal armour astride a white horse could be seen in the gloom, above his head he swung a sword of steel around as he cut through branches to clear a path, the light glinted off the cruel angles of the weapon and the girl's heart ached as the trees cried out in pain with each slice.

Slowly, as the man continued to cut, the girl crept round to the other side of the clearing and came to stand right in front of the strange rider, he hadn't yet cleared enough of the branches to see her but she caught sight of the red shield he held on his left arm with a depiction of a golden dragon painted across it's breadth, the trees gave one final cry, the loudest of them all as the rider broke through only to stop and freeze as his eyes landed on the small hidden figure.

"Who are you?" he questioned sounding slightly miffed, the girl inclined her head to the side.

"I could ask the same question but now I have seen your shield I require no answer" she replied, the rider removed his helmet to reveal a pale face with clear blue eyes and short blond hair.

"Listen girl, I have no time to play games I'm on an important mission from Camelot" He said firmly trying to turn his horse to walk around her but the horse had become like stone and would not move. The knight jerked on the reins and nudged the horse with his heals but still it refused to move.

The girls heart went out to the poor creature and she stepped forward with a hand out stretched as if to touch it only to find a sword in her face, completely unfazed she pushed the end of the blade aside and took another step, this time the horse reached out to her and pushed it's nose into her hand, the astonished rider had no time to think as the girl made it the rest of the way and hugged the horses long face to her chest while whispering words the rider could not understand, all of a sudden the horse about turned and began to follow the green clad figure back the way she came much to the horse's disgruntled passengers disdain.

"Just where do you think your going?" he asked sharply, the figure kept walking and simply said

"It is almost dark prince of Camelot and this forest is not safe at night for the likes of you" Prince Arthur was not amused but had to admit she was right.

"At least tell me your name" He sighed giving in, only then did her head turn in his direction.

"My name is Glory but you need not know, for after you leave here tomorrow, you will not remember it" she said before turning and continuing to walk, confused but deciding he'd rather not know the prince of Camelot followed his unlikely host to her one roomed cabin in the forests centre.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own merlin

**Review answers:**

**Hogaboom:** Is Glory evil? maybe, just wait and see thanks for the review, it was nice to get some feedback.

Well I like this thing so far, thanks to those who took the time to read it and add it to their alerts lists.

Heres chapter 2!!

Please give me some feedback, I'd like to know what you think and I'd like to apologise if Arthur is out of character, I'm not exactly used to him yet because Merlin is a relitively new programme, anyways hope you enjoy it.

-Rin

NB: this is an edited chapter. I've made a few alterations here and there but like in chapter 1, nothing major was changed although the start of this one was altered quite a bit.

* * *

Chapter 2

The night passed by quickly in the dark confines of the forest, the small cabin could hardly be seen through the thick vegetation that covered the area and Arthur found himself unable to sleep.

This place was strange to the prince of Camelot, never before had he been in a place that looked so entirely natural, everything was made from materials found in the forest, everything except the leather bag and green cloak that Glory kept very close to her person at all times.

It was those two things and nothing more that indicated to Arthur that Glory had seen civilisation before but her treatment of him throughout the evening clearly stated that she hadn't liked it much.

For one thing, it was obvious to Arthur that this girl, whoever she was, lived in relative poverty, so then how pray tell could she afford such things? It was questions like that, that kept him awake.

She had left the cabin hours ago and had yet to return, to say the prince was curious would be an understatement, where could she possibly go in the dead of night?

Those were questions he knew could not be answered. She lived here and probably had for a long time, he was a stranger in her home and therefore had no right to go snooping about in her life, no matter how tempting it might seem. For the thousandth time that night Arthur thanked his lucky stars that Merlin wasn't with him, the troublesome servant would probably have talked him into it.

Back at Camelot the city was silent as the night passed by, only a few soldiers could be seen moving around at this late hour, still candles light flickered through the narrow opening of a window in the physician's house.

Gaius had gone to bed hours ago but Merlin was still awake with a book propped up in front of him. Gaius had told him of the meeting in the king's court the day before and Merlin was determined to find the source of the disappearances. Still, his research had turned up nothing thus far and he was beginning to get frustrated.

Arthur had left earlier that day for the villages of Archeion and Roin on what Merlin had called 'a wild goose-chase' the reality was that Archeion and Roin had probably given all the information they could and even if he could find the old sites of Bardon and Hurth, which was unlikely, no-one ever ventured there anymore and there were no ruins to be seen.

That was what made it such a mystery, nothing was left behind, all the people were burned to ashes, bones and all, then scattered to the wind, not even metal survived the fires which is strange because although it will melt, metal can not burn.

All of that pointed to only one possible answer, magic, the type of magic however was proving to be illusive.

With a frustrated sigh he got up and began to pace about the floor, the answer to this riddle was going to be annoying.

* * *

As the sun came up Glory returned to her forest home, she carried with her another series of leaves, flowers and plants found only in the dark. As she sorted them into piles and repeated the same process as she had done with the other batch the day before she watched the prince sleeping, she could tell he hadn't slept until the early hours of the morning.

Taking some dried herbs from various strings Glory pulled out a mortar and pestle and began to grind them together until they were reduced to nothing more then a thin powder, she poured it into a small brown bag and set it aside on the table, then, having nothing better to do until Arthur woke up she picked up her water bucket and headed out the door to the nearby stream to collect the day's water supply.

The sun had barely risen above the horizon and the sky was a blaze of colour, pink being the one that stood out most, that was a sure sign that it would rain today, the teenager sighed at the thought, she loved the rain but it could be irritating sometimes.

Rain also didn't bode well for the days activities, she couldn't afford to get sick so going out and getting soaked was out of the question, mentally she ran through the preparations that would have to be made, the fire wood would have to be moved inside to prevent it from getting wet, she would have to collect more to make sure she didn't run out, today's meals would have to be taken care of and although it wasn't as big a problem, at least two more buckets of water needed to be collected.

When she got back to her cabin she noticed that the prince was sitting up and looking around in a somewhat dazed manner which quickly changed as she entered and he seemed to perk up.

"Well look what the cat dragged in" he said looking her over with a critical eye, with her cloak draped across her shoulders and the bucket in her hand she didn't look much different to all the other times he had seen her the day before. Glory chose to ignore him in favour of heating some water over the fire and sprinkling in some of the powder she had prepared that morning into a cup, once this was done she handed it to Arthur.

"Drink it, it will restore your strength, by the looks of you, you didn't sleep well" She added the last bit as she turned away to begin preparing a kind of vegetable soup for breakfast. Arthur regarded the herb mixture suspiciously before deciding it was safe and drowning it with one gulp an action which he later regretted as it burned his mouth. Glory shook her head disapprovingly.

"You didn't sleep at all I'd bet, where were you all night anyway?" he asked frowning at the burning sensation on his tongue.

"That is no concern of yours prince of Camelot but if you must know I was out gathering night herbs, without which, your headache wouldn't be gone and you'd probably still be half asleep" she stated casually with her back to Arthur. His frown deepened as he stood up from his makeshift bed on the floor.

"I'd better get going" he said turning towards the door.

"Oh no, you don't" Glory replied looking as well as sounding miffed.

"You dare to order me around?" he asked in a slightly angry tone, just who did she think she was?

"No but it would be foolish to go without breakfast with no grantee of lunch, even Knights of the realm need food." She said throwing recently chopped carrots into the simmering water. Arthur paused, she had a point.

"Fine but I will see to my horse now" he said continuing on his previous path when a carrot hit the back of his head.

"Give that to the poor creature" Glory said as she began to chop potatoes and add them to the cauldron as well. Arthur shot a glare in her direction, picked up the carrot and left the room.

'I'll have to remember to tell him about the rain that's to come' she thought to herself whilst chopping some lettuce.

* * *

It was mid-morning by the time Arthur returned Glory had just finished making breakfast and handed him a bowl.

"I'll have to leave soon" he said casually as she pulled the pot off the fire.

"Leave when you wish, it makes little difference to me, just don't go about swinging that sword like a mad man again, you could hurt someone" she replied while ladling the remaining soup, which wasn't a great deal, into a water skin and handing it to Arthur. He gave her a glare but accepted the skin from her anyway with a begrudging thank you; despite what she'd done for him he really didn't like the girl.

"It looks like it will rain today so if I where you I'd have at least an idea of where to go before I left" She added with a smirk, surprise filtered across his face for a moment before he covered it with arrogance. "That's what happens when silly little princes stray off the woodland path, they get lost." she added leaving the cabin to go about her business.

"Feel free to leave at any time; like I said yesterday, you won't remember much of it after you go" with that she disappeared into the trees to do god knows what.

The prince paid her no mind; the strange ways of a forest dweller was of little concern to him, if only he knew just how much he was going to regret thinking that when next he saw her.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Merlin

 Welcome to Chapter 3 of Witches Coven, the title should be explained a bit in this one.

Thanks to those who reviewed and added this to their alerts list, I'm glad you like it so far.

-Rin

NB: Yet again, this has been edited and yet again nothing much changed, some grammer things here and there and sometimes the way things were worded completely changed but other then that nothing really needed to be.

And please remember this, Grammer and spelling are NOT my strong points, actually I'm pretty damn bad at them!! XD

* * *

Chapter 3

Wind tore at the landscape with vicious intensity, trees were being uprooted fields and walls destroyed but the wind was not the only thing to cause damage on this night, it was happening again.

Fire that burned with a brilliant light accompanied by intense heat swept through the village of Roin mercilessly. The wind once again drown out the sound of the screaming, the chill in the air covered the heat of the fire and the light covered the terrifying seen as countless people died in the most terrible way imaginable.

Again to the east of the village sat a girl, humming to herself while she held her jewel in the palm of her hand. She faced the furnace that used to be the village but her eyes which were the colour of emeralds, were cast further west, out towards the town of Archeion, or what was left of it.

Archeion or so it seemed had suffered the same fate as it's neighbouring village, now only smoke rose into the sky from the burning embers, it had already all but disappeared into the night, frowning the girl changed the tune to which she was singing and as she did the wind redirected its-self and blew the last of the town away so all that was left was scorched earth, looking towards the sky she decided that she had an hour left before sunrise, by that time the village of Roin would follow the town of Archeion into the wind leaving only the tell tail smell of smoke behind to linger in the air and the girl with hair red as fire would be long gone.

* * *

The sun rose late in Camelot, Gaius was up before sunrise every morning, no matter the occasion, and as such he was one of the first to hear the commotion in the king's courtyard.

"Urgent news from the south" the messenger yelled as he pulled a bundle off the back of his horse and was immediately hurried into the castles main halls, Gaius wasted no time and went to wake his ward while waiting for the summons he knew were coming his way, this wasn't going to be pretty, the messenger had looked and sounded worn out and travel weary, the kind that only comes from constant travel over a pro-longed period of time, thank goodness the poor fellow had a horse.

* * *

Arthur woke that morning feeling oddly like he was forgetting something, this its-self wasn't the surprise, as he'd had the feeling ever since he'd arrived to Archeion two weeks before hand, now back at Camelot in his own bed he had expected the feeling to subside but if anything it had only gotten worse.

Lazily he stretched out unwilling to clamber out of bed to assume his princely duties. Casting his mind back through his journey to the southern town he remembered nothing except the long nights and days spent travelling through the never ending southern forests of his father's kingdom, nothing seemed out of place.

It was that moment that Merlin chose to come bursting in through the door.

"Your father wants to see you!" the black haired boy exclaimed excitedly, Arthur frowned after he'd calmed down from his almost heart attack.

"Merlin!" he growled disapprovingly "Can't you ever knock?" Arthur steamed at his man-servant climbing out of bed as he did so; Merlin just grinned and collected something for the prince to wear.

* * *

Glory woke to the sound of frantic footsteps and hurried voices, she was blind and she couldn't move, she was being carried, that much she could tell, her limbs were not bound just heavy and her consciousness was lost in a strange delirium that didn't seem drug induced but slurred her mind none the less.

As feeling slowly returned to her she realised she could feel an extraordinary amount of pain all over her body and as whoever was carrying her walked over a particularly uneven piece of ground, steps as she later found out, she let out an involuntary whelp of pain, much to the surprise of her 'captor'.

"She is awake!" the obviously male voice exclaimed jumping from shock and forcing another groan from Glory's throat in the process.

"Yes but you must be careful Sir Ebert, she is hurt." Another - slightly older - voice said from the side.

"Give her to Gaius Ebert, he is our court physician" yet another voice said, the man who held her remained reluctant to give her over but eventually gave in, the person he handed her to, however, was not who she had expected, the moment he touched her, her senses were attacked by the presence of magic.

She let out a slight gasp as the magic rushed from the body of the boy, for this was no man, and into her own, a gasp that was thankfully mistaken for pain, although she had a feeling that whoever this was noticed the sudden rush of magical activity.

* * *

"Tell me, Sir Ebert, what brings you to Camelot?" Uther asked the Knight who knelt before him.

"Terrible news from the south my lord, Roin and Archeion have now also disappeared" The knight said sadly, the king sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.

"How long ago?" the King asked aggravated.

"They both disappeared in the same night my lord, I was at the village the day before, left early in the morning, came back the next evening and they were gone, that was two days ago" The knight sighed thinking of all the people who lost their lives in the village, he had known it well.

"And what does this have to do with that girl?" the king asked becoming more irritated, the knight snapped back to attention.

"I found her unconscious in the middle of the southern forest, she was lying close to the remains of a burnt down hut and I think it was her home. I brought her here because I thought she might be able to tell us something about the disappearances." Ebert explained calmly, the king nodded hoping that the girl would indeed know something.

"Prince Arthur, did you find anything on your visit to Archeion and Roin?" King Uther addressed his son. Arthur shook his head.

"Nothing we didn't know of already" was the reply, Uther's already persistent headache intensified, this wasn't going well.

"I assume there were no survivors?" the king questioned although he already knew the answer.

"No my lord" the knight replied, Uther was not surprised.

"We must find a way to deal with this, dismissed!" the king barked, all present bowed and left.

* * *

The covenant, a law that even the most powerful of them must abide by, or so it would seem. Over the years certain things have gone wrong with the code, it shattered the alliance and led to the development of darkness among them, to join the covenant now is folly.

It is and has been for a long while - seemingly null and void.

* * *

Glory woke up some hours later in the physician's home; she was lying on a bed, something she wasn't used to, and staring at a ceiling made of wooden beams. Glory hadn't forgotten the events which led her to be here, nor was she surprised they had happened. It had been, she admitted to herself gravely, only a matter of time and she had been a fool to think she could escape them.

The coven had split, years ago shortly after the war that band magic from Camelot had ended.

Many of them had been killed and the ones who where left after it quickly gave into darkness one by one. Those that didn't succumb to the new order where silently picked off and killed, that was what happened to Martha, Glory's mentor.

Twelve years ago, the coven decided to take its revenge on Camelot, plans were set in motion and executed with deadly accuracy, it had been seven years since Glory had seen another from the coven, well until two days ago that is.

Clutching her emerald jewel Glory pulled herself up into a sitting position and frowned, her pervious state must have been caused by smoke inhalation, it was simple enough to treat and recover form, especially for someone who was more or less made of magic. The burses and the pain that came from the magical beating she'd taken had long since healed thanks to her own magic and Gaius, Camelot's court physician.

Holding her charm before her in her hand Glory studied it carefully for a few moments, to anyone passing by it would look as if she was merely admiring its flawless surface, only a witch of the coven would know any different.

Looking into the centre of the emerald Glory began to see shapes that quickly morphed into pictures and she didn't like what she saw.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Merlin

Heres chapter 4, thanks to all those who reviewed previous chapters and I hope you enjoy this one.

-Rin

* * *

Witches Coven

Chapter 4

With her heart in her mouth Glory watched as flames consumed the small town and inhaled the black smoke that hung thick in the air. In the distance, over the crackle of the flames and the roar of the wind, she heard a familiar song, it's climbing and falling melody was one she had grown up with and once upon a time it had been her greatest comfort. The voice that was singing was as familiar as the words; it was one that she had hoped to never hear again.

Her mind immediately turned to denial, to deny it was pointless, that she knew but she didn't want to believe that after seven years of silence, the same old nightmare could reappear from the mists of time to haunt her again.

"Athena" the name passed her lips as a whisper which echoed eerily loud in her head and as the name faded a bone chilling laughter broke out in place of the song and she knew her assumption was correct.

* * *

Glory shot up from the bed as her eyes snapped open. She looked around frantically, chest heaving as she struggled to get enough oxygen and her mind worked overtime trying to digest the new realisation that had the potential to rock the very foundations of her sanity.

Sitting round the bed watching her, Merlin and Gaius shared a glance, they had already realised that the girl had a strong connection to magic and therefore had correctly guessed that the sleep they had been unable to wake her from was not in fact a coma, but rather a deep enchanted sleep from which only the caster could wake her.

As Glory's senses returned to her and her brain began to process the information her senses collected she noticed the boy and the old man who sat and watched her intently, her first reaction was to panic but she had already realised that they might have guessed her magical roots, just as she had guessed Merlin's.

"I think you have some explaining to do, young warlock" The old man said fixing her with a serious gaze, Glory's expression remained calm but that couldn't disguise her unwillingness to co-operate. She, like everyone else knew the penalty for using magic and she had no desire to submit herself to that fate. However, she also knew that she could not risk lying.

"I'm not obligated to tell you anything." She said, the physician fixed her with a pointed stare, a look that told her he knew without her saying a word, if only he knew everything.

"Then answer me this, do you intend any harm on the Pendragon family?" He asked searching her eyes for any kind of lie, this one she could answer truthfully.

"No." she answered, she posed no threat to the king and the prince, Athena on the other hand, was a different story.

Gaius relaxed in his seat, Merlin like Gaius was unable to detect any lie but he didn't let his guard down, there had been too many close calls in the past.

"Well then we shall say no more for now, drink this" Gaius said handing her a gruesome looking liquid "it will help you get some sleep" he added noting her expression with some amusement.

Glory nodded in thanks, drank the potion which tasted even worse then it looked, lay back on the makeshift bed that she was unable to move from and allowed the dark abyss of undisturbed sleep to claim her mind and body in its embrace.

"I'm waiting for you…"

* * *

Over the next few weeks, fear consumed Glory's every waking moment; she would not let herself sleep for the terror of what awaited her in the blackness of her mind and she didn't dare to gaze using the emerald again. On the two occasions when she did accidentally nod off, the nightmare of her past came to her and she awoke remembering little.

As the days wore on Gaius began to notice something was amiss with the girl but remembering the reaction he got the first time he had said anything he decided not to approach her a second time. Instead he decided to have Merlin try to talk to her, there was no doubt in his mind that Glory knew exactly what Merlin was, the boy who he looked upon as a son had told him of the rush of magic he had felt the moment he touched her, this had intrigued the old physician but it had also worried him, just what kind of being was she and more importantly could they really trust her?

* * *

Arthur decided he'd had enough, over the past few weeks Merlin had been neglecting his duties of looking after the prince in favour of helping Gaius with some girl Sir Ebert had brought to Camelot from the southern forests.

It irritated Arthur more that Merlin hadn't even bothered to ask him for time off to help the old man with the woman, instead he just disappeared or had turned up late more times then the prince could count, which in turn left the prince in a dire state of disarray and for that he placed the complete blame on his tardy servant.

Storming through the halls off his castle home like a dark and dangerous storm cloud, the prince headed for the physicians chambers where he would no doubt find his distracted servant and the source of the distraction. It was that side of things which interested Arthur the most, he had never known Merlin to be distracted by any woman, except maybe Gwen and even that hadn't caused his mind to wonder _this_ badly, it was a miracle Arthur hadn't sacked him yet!

Knocking rather harshly on the door the young Pendragon waited impatiently for the door to open, after a minute or so he got tired of waiting and in a very un-prince like gesture he opened the door and walked right in, what he saw caused is memory to flare to life and the forgotten nagging feeling that told him he was forgetting something reappeared, he knew the girl lying on the makeshift bed, only for the life of him, he couldn't remember how.

Her hair was spread out over her pillow like a halo that shone with a glittering magnificence of red, copper and gold as the sun rays that beamed in through the window to light up her pale face hit it, and Arthur, for some reason he could not explain, knew with unquestioned certainty that when she opened her eyes, they would be the darkest shade of brown. A few minutes later when her eyes did open, he was proved right.

* * *

Glory opened her eyes to be met by the sight of a familiar face. Pale skin, bright blue eyes and golden blond hair was all she could distinguish through the glaring sun light that shone in her eyes and hindered her vision, too weak to lift her arm to shield her eyes she closed them and relaxed her tense muscles; she knew after all that he posed no threat to her.

"Who are you?" he demanded, she smiled at the memory of the fist time he had asked that and decided to more or less give him the same answer she had then.

"I could ask you the same but having seen your face I require no answer" She answered as cryptically as possible, the prince steamed, he had a major sense of déjà vu he just couldn't place it in his memory.

"Have we met before?" he asked sitting down on a small stool near to her bed after rather reluctantly closing the shutters of the window that caused light to be cast over her face. She turned her head and smiled at him in thanks before returning to her previous position only with eyes open this time, she did not look at him as she answered.

"Perhaps, I am seen by many but remembered by few" again a cryptic answer and one that did nothing to stifle the prince's curiosity. The truth of the matter was this; Glory had placed many ward enchantments over herself and her home, one of these made the people who saw or spoke to her forget the moment they left her company and home, it was a handy trick for one who wished to hide their existence from the world. Of course to admit to this use of magic to the prince of all people, was suicide, literally.

Arthur found it hard to believe that someone could forget her, he'd had taken one look at her and knew it would take some time for her face to fade from his mind. Her hair colour in particular caught and held his attention, still from the moment she had opened her eyes her lack of sleep had become obvious to him, the fact that she made no move to shield her eyes from the light and the struggle it took for her to produce even a small smile showed her exhaustion even more clearly, it made Arthur wonder what could have caused it.

Deciding he would ask Merlin about her later, Prince Arthur stood up from his seat and abruptly excused himself to leave, she nodded, albeit rather stiffly to indicate she heard him and he left the room completely forgetting the reason he had been there in the first place now that his mind was otherwise occupied.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Merlin

Well its been a good while since I updated this and since I have it written, I might as well. The trouble at the moment is with managing my time around school work and my social life - its getting harder to do. This might be the last for a while but half term is coming so you never know, anyway here's chapter 5.

- Rin

PS. This is another unedited version and like I said with the other chapters, I will go back over it and fix it when I have time.

Please review I need some feedback so that I can improve the way I write but if you are going to criticise something, please try to be nice about it.

* * *

Witches Coven

Chapter 5

When Merlin entered the princes bedchamber that night to serve the future king his dinner he had been confronted by a barrage of questions form the irritated price, but not about his neglected duties as Merlin would have expected, instead they all concerned Glory. The feeling that he had been forgetting something had only intensified in Arthur as the day wore on and so his temper had flared.

"Who is she?" he demanded pacing the room in a frantic manner, it was making Merlin dizzy just watching him.

"Who is who?" the baffled warlock asked the prince, Arthur growled in frustration.

"The girl Ebert brought to Camelot from the southern forest" The prince just about yelled while continuing to pace as if he was determined to wear a hole in the floor.

"I think you better sit down" Merlin suggested trying to reason with the frantic royal, Arthur didn't stop, he couldn't. His frustration had built to a point where he felt ready to burst and it became impossible for him to sit still.

"She seems so familiar, I've definitely seen her somewhere before" Arthur ran his hand through his hair, it only served to further enhance his crazed look as his eyes snapped to Merlin who was looking quite bemused. "Who is she?" he asked again with a little more force behind his words, it wasn't a question this time; it was a demand.

"Her name is Glory, that's all I know" Merlin sighed and the prince collapsed in a seat and slumped over the large table that occupied the floor of his personal chambers.

"That's a fat lot of good" the prince muttered, Merlin snorted and Arthur looked up.

"What?" he asked.

"Sounds like you like her" Merlin teased, Arthur scowled.

"Actually, I have a feeling I didn't" he said, Merlin's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his expression changed to one of complete disbelief.

"What do you mean?" he asked his startled look quickly turning to a frown.

"I mean… oh forget it" the frustrated prince puffed slumping back to his previous position, Merlin shook his head and laughed inwardly at the flustered prince.

"Well you could always try talking to her" Merlin said setting a plate of food in front of Arthur.

"I already did" He said groaning at the memory, what she said had seemed awfully familiar as well.

"Really, what did she say?" The servant asked setting down a goblet of wine and standing off to the side.

"I asked her who she was and she said 'I could ask you the same but now I have seen your face I require no answer' I've heard that somewhere before" Merlin rolled his eyes and picked up a tray.

"Try to get your head out of the clouds before I get back" He said as he left the room, Arthur growled when he realised Merlin hadn't really listened to a word he'd said.

* * *

The days that passed after the disappearance of Bouron in the North, with the biggest loss of life to date, were among the grimmest Morgana had ever had the misfortune to see.

The streets of Camelot had become almost silent in fear and the people went about their daily business with an air of suspicion surrounding them, trust among the people was beginning to wane and their hospitality to travellers arriving in the city was non-existent

There was a dark cloud hanging over the royal city as the people waited for the news of the next disappearance, news they were certain would come.

The recent attacks were not the only thing plaguing the lady's mind, over the past weeks her nightmares had intensified, they were always similar, pictures of peaceful villages and towns, happy faces of the smiling villager's content with their place in life, that however did not last for long.

At the going down of the sun each time the picture would change and suddenly, the villagers, men, woman and children alike would appear before her eyes with an expression of pure undiluted fear, always cloaked in a wreath of wild and dancing flame, their screams echoed in her head as smoke from the fire turned the picture to black.

The last series of images were always the same, it always began with a figure, hooded and cloaked sitting on a hill watching the distant village burn with her back to Morgana's vision and just as the first rays of sun would appear, the green cloaked figure would stand up and begin to remove their hood, it was in this moment that Morgana would wake, shaking and shivering, the figures face remaining unknown.

Today she planned to go to see Gaius to ask his advice and help with the nightmares although she knew the trip would probably be in vain.

* * *

"The sunnes cours, we may well kenne,  
Ariseth est and goth down west:  
The rivers into the see they renne  
And it is never the more almest;"

The sun shone through the window of Gaius's small chamber and lit up the face of the singing girl who sat brushing out her long red hair whilst trying in unsuccessfully to shield her dark eyes from the glare of the light. She did not realise someone was listening in.

"Windes rosheth here and henne;  
In snow and rain is non arrest.  
Whon this woll stunte who wot or whenne  
But only god on grounde grest?"

"That song is beautiful" Glory's head snapped round to face the person who had spoken, it was a woman she had never seen before, a lady of the court. Glory studied the woman closely, they were close in age, that she could tell but it was easy to see that the red head was the younger. The older girl's hair fell in dark tresses around her beautiful face which was pale and weary despite the lady's glowing inner energy.

Glory frowned in contemplation "Are you the lady Morgana?" she asked tensely, she felt vulnerable under the girls scrutiny and oddly exposed like a deer caught in the headlights. It felt odd being caught in the middle of a song after living alone for so long with barely any human contact. Morgana nodded in confirmation of what Glory already knew.

"I am, you're the girl Sir Ebert brought from the southern forest, forgive me I have not yet heard your name" Morgana's eyes trailed the figure of the girl before her, her bones were clearly visible through her flesh and her skin was pale in contrast to her hair which was a wavy main of dark copper. She would be quite tall when standing up maybe an inch or so off Morgana herself, but she wasn't gangly, actually if she wasn't so underfed she would be quite well formed, Morgana admitted to herself. The girl's eyes however were the most unsettling thing about her; they were a dark vortex of emotion. They showed a tense readiness to run and an unwillingness to trust along with a fair amount of fear, her entire form was tense but she managed to nod to the lady to confirm her identity.

"My name is Glory my lady" she stated quietly and said no more, it was that moment that Gaius chose to enter the room.

"Lady Morgana, I did not expect to see you here child, how may I help you?" the physician asked the kings ward, her attention left the red head and grey eyes snapped to the old man who was also one of her closest friends.

"Yes, I am sorry to trouble you Gaius but I was wondering if you would possibly have some sort of sleep remedy, I'm afraid I have not slept well these past nights" Morgana explained. Gaius's eyes immediately took note of the paleness of her skin and the dark bruises that marked under her eyes with a black shadow.

"Come in child" he said motioning to a chair that sat at the head of a large oak table where Glory sat drinking a cup of hot water and herbs.

"The dreams have continued?" he asked once she was seated, Morgana nodded tears coming to her eyes.

"Not just continued, gotten worse, it was bad enough when Arthur was bitten by that beast and almost died but now I'm seeing villages and the deaths of hundreds of men, woman and children who can do nothing to defend themselves" she said tears leaking and beginning to flow down her pale cheeks, Gaius sighed as she began to relay her dream to him while Glory watched the exchange in silence deep in thought now completely relaxed, she knew what the girl was.

"I'm afraid I can not give you anything to stop these dreams from what you've told me these seem to be more then mere dreams, you must be careful who you tell about them but I can not help you" The physician stated gravely, Morgana sighed. A small tap from the top of the table drew both sets of eyes to the young girl who sat at the top of the table. Both old man and young woman had completely forgotten about their other observer, Glory's head was down as she stared into the bottom of her empty cup apparently lost in thought, then suddenly her head snapped up and her dark brown eyes captured and held Morgana's pale grey ones.

"I think I may be able to help you…" she said, leaving both Morgana and Gaius reeling from shock.

* * *

**Song used and English translation**:

The sunnes cours, we may well kenne,  
Ariseth est and goth down west:  
The rivers into the see they renne  
And it is never the more almest

Windes rosheth here and henne;  
In snow and rain is non arrest.  
Whon this woll stunte who wot or whenne  
But only god on grounde grest?

The erthe in oon is ever prest,  
Now bedropped, now all drye;  
But uche gome glit forth as a gest:  
This world fareth as a fantasye

**English:**

The arc of the sun, as we all well know,  
Rises in the east and descends in the west:  
Into the sea the rivers run  
Yet it almost never overflows

The winds rush hither and thither:  
In endlessly driving snow and rain.  
Who knows where all this will end, or when,  
Except for god who graces the plain?

The earth is constantly pressed into unity,  
Sometimes dripping wet, other times dry:  
But each man walks here only as a guest:  
This world fares well as a fantasy

**Disclaimer: I did not translate this, I found it on a website I can't remember the name of!**

**Song: The World Fareth As A Fantasy**

**by: Mediaeval Baebes**


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